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The Village Connection

Abstract

The Village Connection which is a quasi-profit company that offers wireless broadband connections to every neighborhood in villages in Southern Africa and provide the local junior secondary schools with e- readers filled with relevant books, journals and videos to the respective country curriculum during their study period during school days. The system will leverages the widely available, and highly cost-reduced, Wi-Fi chipsets. SV, however, retain only the PHY from these chipsets and propose a single-channel, multi sector, TDD MAC using directional antennas. This will allow us to sustainably serve a larger area with broadband internet connections. The broadband wireless access system employed will provide Internet service to public kiosks (that has a basket of services) which will provide public telephony using VoIP technology, as telephony earns far higher revenue per bit than any other service. The end users will be provided with voucher cards which will be sold by the kiosks.

Additional Questions

Who is your customer?

Our customers are generally the public youth from ages of 12 to 37, both male and females. Our customers are geographically located in villages of Southern Africa only. Income level of our customers should be from P36 000 annually to P250 000.

What problem does this idea/product solve or what market need does it serve?

Unemployment: Unemployment seems to be an inevitable feature of modern economies. Even though it differs from country to country and within the duration of economic cycles, it has become a part of the economic, social landscape almost everywhere and at the same time, unemployment forces huge costs on individuals and nations.. ICT can rise its input to GDP through growing of manufacturing, facilitating trade, solution development, communication and the ICT sector services provision. Reasonable and affordable access to broadband connectivity and services will fuel creativity and permit innovation among businesses and individuals by providing a platform that supports entrepreneurial advancement, access to information and services, and active citizen participation in the information society.
Insufficient Internet Connectivity to villages in Southern Africa:A study revealed that internet access among young people in Botswana is relatively low compared to other places in the world. Majority of participants indicated that they had internet access of less than five hours a week which is what most young people in developing countries would have in a day. The digital divide in Botswana is in two fronts, urban digital divide and rural areas digital divide. As in the majority of African countries, the ICT infrastructure in Botswana is concentrated in cities and particularly in government institutions.

What attributes will make this idea/product successful? Why do you believe that those features will create success?

The Village Connection will provide wireless broadband connection in the neighborhoods of villages and customers access local websites and selected educational websites at subsidized pricing but access to other websites at competitive pricing . The organization is a quasi-profit company so it also offers e- readers filled with relevant books, journals and videos to the respective country curriculum during their study period and teach the student how to use the internet in certain days agreed upon by the particular school and the organization.

Explain how you (your team) will execute to make this idea/product successful? What gives you (your team) an advantage over others already in the market or new to this market?

Firstly we will be making public lectures from time to time at the local university, tertiary institutions schools and community halls about how to use the internet effectively and how to use our service. Also regular attendance to networking organizations, IT and business clubs.A well-planned public relations campaign that will issue press releases and news stories to city and local newspapers, Business Journals and television and radio stations in Botswana and venues.A digital marketing campaign will be started. This campaign will include social media, web content, e-mail and search engine optimization.
The Sales Team:
All company personnel are considered members of the sales team, from the office staff to the installation experts. All employees will receive financial bonuses if the company reaches overall sales goals. The specific sales force shall be comprised of three types of employees.
• Sales managers
• Sales people
• Advertising specialists
The ideal goal is to have each 30 customers each week so the sales teams will work from the field making direct or face-to-face approaches. Most of the follow-up will be done via voice call. The Director of Sales will oversee, manage and direct the entire process with the sales team and will also develop sales efforts to local chain stores and agencies.
Our team will be made up of the Director and the company is divided into 4 segment being the sales department, research and development technical support, Administration and the Mafaratlhatlha departments,
Motse Wa Ditlhaeletsano will have to set up Base station tower and router hook ups to selected kiosks and train the kiosks employees. Have call center for customer service and cultivate productive relationship with stakeholders. On a daily basis junior secondary schools will be visited with e-readers so as for the students to use during study time and assist the student with learning how to use the devices.
Consultants and Contractors:
The organization will engage several qualified individuals and firms to serve the company in specialized areas such management and networking. All payroll, accounting, and bookkeeping will be assigned to a professional accounting firm.
Advisory Board:
An Advisory Board will be formed to provide guidance to the officers and staff. The Advisory Board will meet quarterly and members of the committee are available as resources to the company on an ongoing basis.

Team Leader

Thulaganyo Mathuba

University Of Botswana

I am an Administration intern at Women In Business Association, where I processes membership applications from start to finish, including marketing(Traditional and digital) and educating clients about our different services.

I have worked with a reputable consulting agency, namely LMG Consultancy. I help business owners with securing a loan, education and supporting services that suits their budget and goals. You can expect 100% transparency, no horror stories, and nasty surprises when working with me.

I am graduating this year October at the University Of Botswana and I was picked as The Orange Social Venture Prize Top 10